As you probably have seen from my output on The Arsenal Review, I have been a supporter of Mikel Arteta since he took the reigns in December 2019. Not because I like Mikel Arteta personally, I don’t know him personally. He wasn’t even my favourite player when he wore the jersey. I support him purely and simply because he is the Arsenal manager.
Much has been said of his inexperience. Some have likened him to an “intern”. Jose Mourinho was an “intern” when he took over at Benfica in 2000 (a comparably large club like Arsenal in Portugal) while Pep Guardiola was an “intern” when he took his first managerial job at Barcelona (a comparably large club like Arsenal in Spain…(!)).
Conversely, some managers had not such great beginnings in their managerial careers: Arsene Wenger (Nancy), Antonio Conte (Arrezzo), Rafa Benitez (Vallodolid) and Sir Bobby Robson (Fulham). Some managers are experienced at winning (called “proven winners” by the Twitter critics) but these tend to be ones who are also “proven spenders” such as: Mourinho, Guardiola, Conte, Allegri, Ancelotti and Simeone for example. Would they be good without the blank cheques? Of course they would, but one could surmise the level of success they have had has been financially super-charged.
What does it matter that Mikel isn’t experienced? He clearly has an experienced “pit crew” (as the always excellent The Tuesday Club podcast call it), he has coaching experience with Manchester City (widely praised for developing some of the Manchester City players as well as being credited by Guardiola as a major factor in their success while he was an assistant manager), he has played for some great football managers and has experience of league and tournament football.
So what if “Mikel the Intern” fails? What if his critics are proven right? While I support Arteta and have written a lot about how good a job I think he is doing, it doesn’t make me “right” about him and his tenure. I could be sitting here in 12 months writing about a completely different person in the hot seat. What would Arteta leave behind if he was given his P45?
Some of these are directly due to Arteta and some as a consequence of him being appointed.
Culture
Having worked under Guardiola and the Manchester City executive team, Arteta had a very clear idea of what he wanted to achieve when he took over;
“The first thing we had to do was get back all together with the same agenda and with the same intentions. The foundations have to be really strong in order to create something and we started to do that. I explained my view of how we could do it, we could change things and monitor them daily, but we started to apply some things and they really started to work. We had to create the right culture for our club and it has to be an environment that first of all everybody has to respect each other, that we have to work together and we have to express our passion and how lucky we are to be where we are. That’s the first one to start with” (Arsenal.com 19/08/2020).
It takes a certain amount of, what Troy Deeney would call, “cojones” to do that, plus the confidence that comes with being backed by the ownership. Its pretty clear that over the period he has been here, Arteta has done what he said he would do. Arteta had his “non-negotiables” and has stuck to them.
When Aubameyang was late for the North London Derby in early 2021, for instance, Arteta benched him. Emery wouldn’t have done that. It was a gamble, a risk for Arteta to take, however it reinforced his position as “The Gaffer” and Aubameyang has gone on record to regret his tardiness. You can feel the culture at the club has changed, you can sense it. Ultimately, the manager is a big part of any culture at a club, but for too long Arsenal had a defeatist aura about it, despondent and resigned to drift. Arteta has driven this change (the FA Cup win helped with this somewhat) and it will continue after he has gone. Part of this success has been down to…
Clearing the deadwood (almost)
In the 2021/2022 summer transfer window, we saw Willian, Torreira, Guendouzi, Runarsson, Bellerin and Luiz depart the club. Some were loans but we won’t be seeing them again. In the previous season, we saw Mkhitaryan, Mustafi, Mavropanos and Sokratis leave. We also saw one Mesut Ozil depart on a “free transfer” (re Transfermarkt); it might have been free for Mesut but it certainly wasn’t for Arsenal.
I loved Mesut when he actually played for the club. He was a magician on the ball and could perform wonders when the mood took him – but that was the problem. He seemed to only really bother when he could be bothered. Wenger mollycoddled him, Emery flip-flopped but Arteta facilitated his departure (with Edu and the Kroenke’s support). We will never know the real machinations behind the player and clubs falling out, but Ozil often weaponised his popularity against the manager and club and only to serve brand ‘Ozil” and not the club he pretended to love. He duped Arsenal fans toward the end into thinking he was some kind of martyr, knowing the club would appear complicit in their silence. Mesut loves Mesut and, lest I forget, Guendouzi loves Guendouzi – these players needed to go.
In clearing the deadwood (most but some remains), Arteta cleared the way for the formation of…
Clear transfer strategy
As I said in a previous blog; there is no football or non-football organisation that is planned and run perfectly. The transfer strategy when Arteta took over was to buy experience and use Super Agents to plug gaps. Patch together a team to try and halt the decline and steady the ship. This got us 8th in the table twice on the bounce – but it could have been a lot worse. It also could have been a bit better. Arteta struggled to implement the tactics and gameplan we see emerging now, and it showed. However, out of these missteps and lessons learned, we have a crystal clear transfer strategy and squad building blueprint.
Young players with the ability to develop and slot into a given role and playing style but retain value for future (profitable) onward sale. Yes, an element of luck went into this, but I refer again to my opening remark – no organisation is planned and run perfectly. All other Premier League clubs are managed in the same way – we just don’t see or hear about it. After Arteta is gone, this will remain the clubs strategy for bringing in quality players for reasonable outlays – it has been created and structured to outlive the manager. Which has led to…
Clear youth development strategy
We have the youngest team in the Premier League, probably since Wenger’s reign. We have the very cream of youth talent in Emile Smith-Rowe, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel, William Saliba, Gabriel Martinelli, Flo Balogun, Charlie Patino, Miguel Azeez, and many more coming through Hale End – for which the seeds were sewn by Arsene Wenger and now Arteta, Edu and the Kroenke’s have demonstrated a route to the first team for those who can make the jump from the U23 squad. A much more economical transfer strategy that, again, will outlive the manager and help continue to build a…
A balanced and dynamic squad
From being bottom of the Premier League to 5th in a matter of weeks. The acquisition of 6 new players augmented with the youth and experience of the remaining squad players has, finally, set the club on the right, upward trajectory. Arteta’s first eleven (Ramsdale, Tavares, White, Gabriel, Tomiyasu, Saka, Smith-Rowe, Partey, Lokonga, Aubameyang and Lacazette – give or take a few names) is more defensively robust, organised and resilient. Yes, the playing style can be called defensive (despite our attack creating rafts of chances in most games) but the playing style is right for the team in its current form. Many supporters want us to play “open and expansive football” (or any other string of clichés to describe “attack more!”) but we need to continue to demonstrate defensive discipline, as every successful team does this on a regular basis. We cannot simply take the handbrake off in every game and lay siege to the opposition’s goal. We would leave ourselves open to counterattacking teams or those proficient in beating the press. Patience is needed here. Once the team can consistently demonstrate defensive disciplin and organisation, the attacking element of our game will develop more.
Unification
No clever segue here but the main achievement of Arteta’s reign is the overall unification of the club. The vast majority of the supporter base and crowd at The Emirates are behind the manager and team. The Management structure is more clearly defined with Arteta and his coaching staff, Edu, Josh Kroenke, Vinai Venkatesham, Tim Lewis, Per Mertesacker and his Academy team all set in their respective roles and responsibilities. Each has their area of expertise, input and value-add.
This was totally absent after Wenger left. Ivan Gazidiot (I think that was his name) was an abject failure and put in place a weak and defective “Executive Team” which quickly fell apart, leaving Raul Sanllehi in charge, like some Godfather-like Don in control of the Arsenal Family. Now, this is in place, it will, again, outlast Arteta – making it easy for the next guy to come in and do the job they have been hired for.
Summary
So what does failure look like? How do we assess if Arteta has “failed” at his job? I have covered the context of his tenure to date in other blogs (covid etc) but for me, the absolute minimum we should expect is to finish inside the top 6 places – i.e. Europa League at minimum. Much good has been done by Arteta since he arrived however we are in the results business and Arsenal belong in Europe.
As I have said before, many proclaimed we needed to be in the top 6 by Christmas. If we are being objective and fair, this will remain the same until the end of the season. If Arteta and Arsenal are still 5th by New Year – there should be no change in target, no moving the goalposts. Arteta needs to return Arsenal to European football for the 2022/2023 season. We have the squad for it. We have the manager for it. We have the infrastructure for it. If we fall from 5th and finish outside the top 6, we can fairly and rightly point to Arteta and proclaim his management and coaching of this hugely talented squad is the defining factor. I personally don’t believe the dysfunctional squad he inherited was better than 8th/mid-table but the one he has assembled certainly is.
If we don’t reach the top 6 by the end of the season, I won’t be surprised if Arteta is relieved of his duties. If he isn’t, I will continue to support him, as he is and would remain the Arsenal manager. If he is sacked…then who would we get in?
I have no f***ing idea…
What if Mikel Arteta fails?
